Mimic

Small Talk

"There's still more people I want you to see!" Robin announced proudly, snapping me out of my thoughts and breaking the silence.

"Who?" I asked, but the Boy Wonder ignored my question and guided me over to none other than Superboy, who was standing alone. I sighed at Robin.

"You need to socialize," Wally told me, "Actually talk to him."

"Oh please," I rolled my eyes.

"Supey!" Robin called out to the brooding teen, who turned around to look at us. Soon we were right in front of him. I cleared my throat awkwardly.

"Hey," I said.

"You two don't talk to each other," Wally said bluntly.

"So we are making you do it," Robin added on cheerfully. 

"I'm sorry about this," I told Superboy.

"I'm used to it by now," Superboy huffed. I laughed at his carefree yet sarcastic attitude. Wally and Robin high-fived each other and backed away.

"So," I said slowly, "I heard you have a pet? How come I haven't seen him?"

"Wolf?" Superboy asked, "I've been keeping him in the hangar. He's not a big fan of strangers, so I was waiting to introduce you two."

"How thoughtful of you Superboy," I smiled slightly, "Apparently you do have a heart."

"You can call me Conner," the teen said. "How's tutoring working out?"

"Great. What school do you go to?" 

"Happy Harbor with M'gann."

"Does everyone else go to different schools?" I asked curiously.

"Wally goes to Central City High, Robin and Artemis go to some school in Gotham, Rocket goes to school in a different city, and I don't know about Zatanna or Kaldur. I'm not sure if they even go to school," Conner thought about it and said.

"Lucky," I muttered in regard to his comment about Zatanna and Kaldur. Conner smiled a bit, which felt like a victory on its own.

"Conner!" M'gann suddenly called from across the room, "Can you come over here? I need your help."

"Sorry," the Boy of Steel told me and walked away to aid his girlfriend in whatever she needed.

"Good job," Wally said with a wink as he and Robin walked over to me. Their sudden appearance startled me slightly.

"Now onto Kaldur," Robin announced. Knowing the routine, I sighed and allowed them to drag me to the teen, who was getting some punch at the food and drink table. Without another word, the acrobat and the speedster shoved me towards Kaldur, so that I almost knocked into him, even with my grace and balance.

"My bad, sorry!" I quickly told the teen, who smiled kindly at me.

"It's not a problem at all," Kaldur said, "How are you enjoying the party so far?"

"It's really fun," I said honestly, "Robin and Wally keep parading me around, introducing me to the League."

"That sounds like them," Kaldur sighed contently.

"Did you know them before the Team was formed?"

"Oh yes," the Atlantean said thoughtfully, "Those two, Red Arrow, and I all knew each other."

"How'd you guys meet?" I asked.

"Our mentors were friends, and we were the original sidekicks. So even though Robin was ten, Wally was twelve, I was fourteen, and Red was fifteen, we all hung out."

"How old are you now?"

"I'm eighteen. And you are fourteen, correct?"

"Yeah, but I'll be fifteen in June," I said, which was actually true. Unless Father lied to me about my own birthday, that is.

Suddenly, an alarm started blaring.

"What's wrong?" Black Canary shouted over the noise.

The screen came to life. Everyone's eyes shot to the front of the room where the holographic screen was. On it stood a woman in a room with gray walls that had drawings and words littered on it in red ink. At least, I hoped it was ink. The woman was wearing black and red pants that were checkered, and she had a vest on that was mainly black. Half of her hair was blood red, while the other half was a sinister black. Her skin was a pale white. In her hands she held a mallet; I recognized it as her favorite one.

I tried hard to contain my shock.

Because the woman on the screen was my mother.